Mutual Hope
by Fangirls and Shortcake
Summary: What would happen if Naruto and Gaara had met as kids? What would happen if they knew they were not alone? Slight NaruGaa. One-Shot.


**First, thanks for reading, second, this contains a hint of narugaa, don't like don't read, third this also contains hate towards the main characters, anyways thanks again and enjoy:3**

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Uzumaki Naruto. A blond, blue-eyed 8 year old jinchuuriki. Kyuubi's vessel.

* * *

Sabaku No Gaara. A redhead, green-eyed 8 year old jinchuuriki. Shukaku's vessel.

* * *

Naruto was running through the people, actually, it was the crowd who moved to leave him space, mostly so the kid didn't get near them.

Naruto was running away. He was scared and holding back his tears.  
What did he ever do to deserve this?  
He'll probably never know.

Flashbacks jumping across his mind as he ran.  
The words 'monster' 'demon' and 'freak' on his apartment's walls.  
The shouting of the crowd.  
The beating when he came out.  
The bruises on his cheeks…

He wanted everything to stop.  
Naruto was running to leave Konoha… running across the path that lead to all the other villages.

* * *

Gaara was walking, looking down, biting his lower lip at the murmurs the crowd caused as they walked away from him, and as he walked down the street.

'Freak' 'Monster' and 'Demon' were words people used to describe him.

He wanted all the pain to go away.  
His father hated him..  
His uncle hated him..  
Everyone did..

Gaara was pleading himself to walk faster, nobody would notice it anyways… He was leaving.

* * *

Naruto kept walking, even though he was tired, he was miles away from Konoha now.

He let his tears flow freely down his aching cheeks and sighed as he spotted travellers and sellers walking in the distance.

* * *

Gaara kept walking, not stopping at all, looking ahead and never looking back.

Not holding back his tears anymore. Letting them be free, and, inwardly getting disappointed as he spotted travellers on the road.

* * *

Both kids forced their tears to stop. Walking calmly, as if they didn't care about the others on the road.

Suddenly a man yelled 'Demon!' and both kids turned automatically at one of the usual names they were called.

"Kyuubi! Oh Kami-sama get that away from us!" Naruto looked away, closing his eyes harshly at the insult. The redhead turned at the woman and then at the other kid, analysing him.

A few seconds later a woman screamed.

"The monster! Run away!"  
Naruto was confused now. "The shukaku!" Gaara looked defiantly at the woman and then down at the floor. Naruto slowly got closer to the redhead.

"Two demons together! RUN AWAY!" The kids gulped. "You will both pay for what you've done! Neither of you deserves to be alive!" Then, the travellers and the sellers ran away quickly.

The kids looked at each other confused and cautious.  
Then, they sat down on the ground, staring at the one in front.

"They called you a demon." Gaara stated.

"They called you a demon too." Naruto shrugged.

"Sabaku No Gaara"

"Uzumaki Naruto"

"Naruto…. what is a 'Kyuubi'?"

"I'm not sure I can tell you…" Naruto looked away, placing a hand on his stomach. "What's a shukaku… Gaara?"

"I'm not allowed to tell you"

Both kids sighed, the blond looking at his stomach, the readhead looking up, to the kanji on his forehead.

"Gaara?"

"Hm?"

"Why did they call you a demon?"

"I… I could ask you the same"

"I asked first"

Gaara sighed, the blond kid talked too loud, but he inwardly liked someone being this close to him, and actually talking.

"The one-tailed demon… The shukaku…" Gaara looked away. "It's inside me"

He was surprised when the blond kid quickly (more quick than Gaara would've expected) was in front of him, hugging him tightly.

A slight blush adorned the one tailed demon vessel's cheeks.

"Wha-what are you doing?"

"I finally found someone…. someone like me"

'Like me' those words rang loudly inside Gaara's head. What did Naruto mean?

"W-what do you mean?" He asked as Naruto ended the embrace.

"I…" Naruto bit his lower lip harshly, and Gaara noticed the whisker-like marks on his cheeks. "I have the nine-tailed fox sealed inside me."

Gaara didn't know what to do. The kid in front of him had the strongest of the bijuus inside of him.

They remained quiet and together sat under a tree.

"Do you have any… like marks caused by the seal or demon inside of, well, you?" Naruto asked quietly.

"The kanji on my forehead"

Naruto sat in front of him again and passed his fingers over the love symbol on Gaara's forehead. "I like it"

"You..?"

"The seal on my stomach.." Gaara cautiously lifted Naruto's shirt, finding a complicated seal around his belly button, he, carefully placed his small hand over the other's seal. Naruto giggled.

"It's warm"

"Really? I never noticed that…"

"I like it"

The kids smiled at each other and held each other hand. They knew what being a jinchuuriki meant. Being alone. And now, they wouldn't let anyone take them back to that hell. Not now that they had found someone that understood and cared.

A few hours passed with true wide smiles from the redhead and loud laughs from the blond.

The sun was setting and that's when ANBU 's from both villages arrived.  
Both kids got up and defensive. ANBU in general hated them.

Sand started swirling around Gaara and red chakra started flowing out of Naruto, causing his blue eyes to turn red, and his nail and teeth sharpen.

The kids smiled at each other, and somehow it appeared the red chakra had smiled at the swirling sand, and it had smiled back.

Two jinchuurikis were more than they could handle.

After an hour of fighting and most ANBU's in urgent need of a medic, the kids almost passed out.

One ANBU of each village grabbed the shirt of each kid; dragging them in opposite directions.

"Will I see you again?" Naruto whispered and mouthed.

Gaara nodded

"Goodbye Naruto" Gaara answered in the same way.

"Goodbye Gaara.."

After that they were taken away.  
But meeting each other was what made them strong enough to hold on. Holding to their mutual hope of meeting again.

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**Hope you liked it *shrugs* **


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